“90% real”– The rise and fall of a rentier economy: Stories from Kandahar, Afghanistan

This ethnographic study started as an enquiry into the employment opportunities rural migrants have found on the informal margins of Kandahar’s urban economy. It broadened into a more general investigation into the rise and fall of the city’s economy since 2001, including interviews with businessmen and others familiar with the reconstruction boom the city experienced.

The study in the informal sector focused on three sub-sectors of the street vendor economy: the selling of tarpaulins, clothes and mobile phones. It found that many of those who had secured a foothold in it were migrants from Kandahar’s rural districts, and they were often landless, driven out by insecurity and a lack of employment owing to drought. They had also been pulled into the city at a time when prospects were better. They found the entry barriers to becoming a street vendor were relatively low and relationships of solidarity enabled access and in many cases direct provision of starting capital. Initially, in the boom years, being a street vendor provided a significantly better living than people had had before. But now times are harder, insecurity is greater and there has been a general economic downturn. In addition, people face major risks as a result of the actions of the police and municipal authorities in the city. The police see vendors as a potential security threat and the municipality treats them as illegal. Steps are being taken to regulate their presence but this will not secure better economic prospects.